The Board denied service connection for both the claimed innocently acquired psychiatric disorder and the residuals of facial injuries, finding no evidence linking these conditions to active duty or inactive duty training.
The deciding factor: There was no credible evidence showing an in-service event or injury that caused or aggravated a current psychiatric disability or facial injury.
- Claimed conditions
- Innocently acquired psychiatric disorder, Paranoid schizophrenia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 9, 2009
- Citation
- 0913322
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0913322.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder other than paranoid schizophrenia, to include substance abuse disorders and PTSD, as secondary to the already service-connected paranoid schizophrenia. Service connection for PTSD is also granted based on evidence of record at least in equipoise with the claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter to obtain a medical opinion that addresses whether the Veteran's diagnosed conditions of paranoid schizophrenia and insomnia are related to service.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was granted an award of special monthly compensation (SMC) based on his service-connected paranoid schizophrenia and renal cancer, but the appeal for a higher level of SMC due to the need for a higher level of care in addition to regular aid and attendance was denied.
- Denied
The Veteran is found incompetent to handle her VA funds due to multiple psychiatric symptoms and frequent hospitalizations, despite receiving 100% disability pay.
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